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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.apz.20050607ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION - Minutes - June 07~ 2005 COMMENTS ............................................................................................................ 2 MINUTES ................................................................................................................. 2 DECLARATION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ............................................... 2 LITTLE AJAX AFFORDABLE HOUSING PUD AMENDMENT ....................... 2 MOUNTAIN DISCOUNT CONDITIONAL USE - 557 NORTH MILL STREET #101 ........................................................................................................................... 4 CHART HOUSE LODGE FINAL PUD and ASSOCIATED LAND USE REQUESTS ............................................................................................................... 6 ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION - Minutes - June 07~ 2005 Jasmine Tygre opened the regular Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting in Council Chambers at 4:30 p.m. Commission Members Brian Speck, Brandon Marion, Steve Skadron, John Rowland, Ruth Kruger and Jasmine Tygre were present. Dylan Johns and Jack Johnson were excused. Staff in attendance were Chris Bendon and James Lindt, Community Development and Jackie Lothian, Deputy City Clerk. COMMENTS James Lindt noted the next meeting was June 14th at the Fire Department. Lindt asked for volunteers for the Canary Initiative Committee. Brian Speck, Ruth Kruger and Steve Skadron volunteered. MINUTES MOTION: Brian Speck moved to approve the minutes ring from May 10th and May 5th with the corrected scoring; seconded by Steve Skadron. All in favor, motion carried. DECLARATION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Ruth Kruger recused herself on Mountain Discount. PUBLIC HEARING: LITTLE AJAX AFFORDABLE HOUSING PUD AMENDMENT Jasmine Tygre opened the public heating for Little Ajax Affordable Housing PUD Amendment. James Lindt supplied the proof of notice by mailing, posting and publication in the newspaper. Lindt provided the background on the Little Ajax project with City Council approving a 14 unit affordable housing project on the south side of West Hopkins Avenue with certain approvals on architecture. Lindt explained that the applicants have made some modifications to the front facing facade with a cantilever of the second floor and the addition of some porch areas'. The applicant is further requesting the ability to get rid of the pitched roof element on the west side to provide a better pedestrian scale as well as eliminating 2 more of the pitched roof elements, which will eliminate the roof drainage concerns. The walkway corridors will be widened between the 2 building modules. Charlie Kaplan said that in December P&Z saw the small model with 16 units and it was now reduced to 14 units per Council. Kaplan said West Hopkins was more of a pedestrian experience with a wall of only 8 feet rather than 12 feet at the end. Kaplan said in order to further articulate the separation between buildings of the 2 ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION - Minutes - June 07, 2005 upper and lower box. The slot is now 12 feet and was 6 or 8 feet. Kaplan said this was a much better scheme but a more expensive scheme. Brandon Marion asked if the cantilever over the first floor made the pedestrian experience seem more vertical. Kaplan replied that he did not think that it did. Marion asked the ceiling height of the first floor. Kaplan answered that it was 8 feet on the first floor and 12 feet on the second floor; the overall height was 20 feet. The previous was height was 23 to 24 feet. Steve Skadron asked the overall amount of square footage that was reduced because of the reduction of number of units. Kaplan replied 2500 to 3000 square feet. Skadron asked the reasoning for the reduction in units. Lindt replied that Council felt there was too much density on the site. Skadron asked if the roof had any ventilation equipment on it. Kaplan replied most of what was on the roof were 2 foot bathroom vents at and 8 inch roof drains, which would not be seen from the street. John Rowland asked if the color scheme and materials were what was presented. Kaplan replied that was corrugated material, the colors were limited by what was available from different companies. Public Comments: 1. Mike Haisfield, public, stated concern for snow on the flat roof and the short amount of time the sun shines on the site. 2. Martha Madsen, public, stated concem about the number of cars, the circulation of cars and the parking. Kaplan stated the roof was designed with roof drains and they feel that flat roofs work much better in snow country. MOTION: Ruth Kruger moved to approve Resolution #18, Series 2005, with conditions, an amendment to the architecture of the Little Ajax Affordable Housing PUD; seconded by Brian Speck. Roll call vote: Rowland, yes; Speck, yes; Skadron, yes; Kruger, yes; Marion, yes; Tygre, yes. Approved 6-0. Discussion: Ruth Kruger noted that over the last 5 years this project has gone through many reviews and the process brought out a better project through public input. Steve Skadron asked Council's reasoning on reducing the number of units from 16 to 14. James Lindt responded that parking was part of the issue and there were subsidy issues. Jasmine Tygre stated the project has improved. 3 ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION - Minutes - June 07~ 2005 PUBLIC HEARING: MOUNTAIN DISCOUNT CONDITIONAL USE - 557 NORTH MILL STREET #101 Jasmine Tygre opened the hearing on Mountain Discount Conditional Use. Sarah Oates provided proof of notice. Oates explained the history of the SCI zone district and the protection of this district began in the 1970s. Oates said these were service orientated businesses with less than 25% of the floor area for retail sales. Oates said the proposal for Mountain Discount had two proposals for conditional use to allow the sales and rental of consumer goods and more than 25% of the floor area for retail sales. The sales and rental of consumer goods was eliminated from the SCI zone district. Mountain Discount applied 4 days before the code change went into effect and if Mountain Discount received approval it would become a non-conforming use. Staff was concerned with the intent of the SCI zone district not creating high customer traffic volumes and this proposal was contrary to the intent of the zone district. Paul Hoeper, applicant, stated that most of the parking spaces in the parking lot were taken up by other businesses or from the other building; they were guaranteed 4-5 parking spaces by the landlord with an addition of getting 4-5 spaces from a tenant that was leaving. Hoeper said they were trying to bring to the community household goods at deeply discounted prices and bring the items in by the pallet and sell off the pallets. Hoeper said they requested a 60% retail and storage of pallets with the remaining 40% space. Hoeper provided pictures to the commission and said there were a number of businesses that match what they were trying to do. John Rowland asked the extent of the store front. Hoeper replied the entire space was 2800 square feet, which was the Matterhorn Bakery. Brandon Marion asked where the parking was located. Hoeper said there were 4 guaranteed spaces but the parking was not monitored but could be monitored and labeled. Marion asked if the other businesses, which were retail in nature were grandfathered in. Chris Bendon stated that a hardware store fits into the type of store that fits into the SCI zone even though most of the space is retail, which is a separate use from this proposal. Bendon said that P&Z spent probably a year going through each use in the SCI zone district. Bendon said the question for the commission was there sufficient parking for this conditional use; so that the neighborhood was not over burdened. 4 ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION - Minutes - June 07~ 2005 Public Comments: Tom McCabe, public, stated that Aspen Repair Service has been in that zone district since 1973. McCabe provided the history of that building from when it was built, which included parking below the building from that ramp. McCabe drew this building and the adjacent building; he said most of the parking belongs to the building where his shop is located. McCabe said the city created the zoning but they don't police their own zoning. McCabe said he had a plat of the area. Tygre asked Tom for a copy of the map. McCabe had concerns for the parking because it has always been problematic. McCabe said he wanted to protect the SCI zone, which was meant to protect Mom & Pop businesses that don't have high profit margins. Paul Hoeper said there was only one entrance and exit to his store and they took careful measurement of the parking spaces. Tygre stated that there were criteria in the packet as exhibit A; there was constant pressure on the SCI zone because many businesses could not afford to pay the rents charged in other zones. The retailers than can afford to pay more in rents pushes out the ones who can't afford to pay more; the SCI zone was designed to protect businesses that were mixed use businesses but primarily had that repair, full serving quality to them, which has not been easily defined. Skadron complimented the applicant on the audacious venture that was much needed in the community unfommately he said his decision would be to enforce the code and ultimately best serve the community. Skadron agreed with staffon this zone district not generating high customer traffic volumes and for this entity to ultimately work it would need high traffic volumes. Rowland shared Steve's comments. Marion applauded the efforts but agreed with Jasmine and Steve. Marion said the parking conundrum that exists also concerned him. Brain Speck dittoed the commissioners concerns and supported staff. Oates added 2 conditions: all access shall be from the east building entrance and the applicant shall provide a parking plan with the addition of at least 4 legal sized and accessible parking spaces on site; the plan shall be based on a current survey. MOTION: Steve Skadron moved to approve the Conditional Use for Mountain Discount at 557 North Mill with the addition of conditions 5 and 6; seconded by Brandon Marion. Roll call vote: Speck, no; Rowland, no; Marion, no; Skadron, no; Tygre, no. Denied 5-0. ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION - Minutes - June 07~ 2005 PUBLIC HEARING: CHART HOUSE LODGE FINAL PUD and ASSOCIATED LAND USE REQUESTS Jasmine Tygre opened the public hearing for the Chart House Final PUD. James Lindt provided proof of notice. Lindt said this was for 11 timeshare lodge units and 2 affordable housing units on the Chart House property at 219 East Durant Avenue. Lindt noted the Chart House Lodge received Conceptual PUD approval in August 2004 and Growth Management Scoring approval in October 2004. Stan Clauson explained that at City Council a number of changes were made with a reduction in the project from 42,674 square feet to 29,842 square feet. Clauson said there were lock offs in 10 of the units so there were a total of 21 keys. The height was reduced with the highest being 46'6" and 28 feet; the 4th floor was setback and reduced in size. There was a public restaurant on the first floor with patio seating outside. Clauson said the concept was based on retaining the very large cottonwood trees that flank the front and side. The building was pulled 15 feet away from the property line on the Southpoint side, which was 3 times the required setback. Clauson said in terms of community benefits it provides a new public restaurant, lodging facilities, major improvement in the pedestrian connector and the improvements to the Dean Street corhdor. The bevel was added to the southeast comer not northwest comer. Brandon Marion asked the time frame of the timeshare opportunities to be open to the public. Clauson responded there were operational components, which were 1. residences will be made available for short term rentals when not in use by the owners; 2. short notice rental opportunities, short notice walk-in rentals on a per diem basis; 3. owners were required to reserve 14 days in advance; 4. each of the owners shall not stay in excess of 30 days. Steve Skadron asked the size of the lock off bedrooms. Skip Behrhorst replied between 500 to 600 square feet. Skadron asked when the Dean Street contribution would be required. Lindt responded that it would probably be prior to CO on the building itself. Skadron asked what the Dean Street improvements might be. Bendon answered that it would physical improvements to the base from surface improvements to lighting. Public Comments: 1. Lidia VanTongren, Southpoint, stated her last concern was the ramp between the Chart House and Southpoint. VanTongren said they wanted it to meet the requirements without a big gash in back. 6 ASPEN PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION - Minutes - June 07~ 2005 2. Bob Nix, public, said he wondered about the reliability of the developers by maintaining the rubbish since the Chart House closed; there were still barrels in the back. A letter was submitted into the record by Mr. Nix. 3. Stan Hajenga, GEMS of Aspen, voiced concern for the impacts on smaller lodges and the height creep in town. Hajenga said there was a responsibility to work within the code. Hajenga applauded the applicant for contributing to the Dean Street improvements. Clauson said the ramp was the access to the affordable housing with a 6 foot width and a substantial amount of planting between this project and Southpoint. Clauson said the applicants do not own this property and do not control it; they have heard about cleaning up the site and they will do it. Clauson said the height has been reduced after many discussions and set by the conceptual approval. Tygre said if they don't own the property but can submit an application with the permission of the property owner. Lindt replied that was true an application could be submitted with the consent of the property owner. Ruth Kruger asked the height of the St. Regis at the maximum, the Mountain Chalet and the Hyatt. Behrhorst replied the highest was at 72 feet at the St. Regis. Lindt replied the Mountain Chalet was at 51 feet set by the PUD and the Hyatt was approved at 47 feet. Marion asked to understand the size of the ramp. Kruger asked what other timeshare notifications were. Tygre said that they want the timeshares to operate like a hotel as much as possible. Tygre asked for a 4~ column on the chart for the current zoning as recently passed. MOTION: Ruth Kruger moved to continue the public hearing to June 21st; seconded by Brian Speck. All in favor, motion carried. Jackie Lothian, Deputy City Clerk 7